Yes, there are actual bigots out there. And yes, sometimes it's not that obvious. I'll give you a few examples and let you decide if it's racism or not.
1) A few years ago I got a viral e-mail about the problem with government workers. Because we all know how good they've got it, right? Anyway, this was a short little video of two government employees stuck on an escalator. The problem: the two stupid employees are a black man and a white woman. So I was rather offended and thought the video was racist and sexist. And then something happened. I found out that that isn't the whole video. I found the entire video on Youtube. There are still a few problems. The black man and white woman are stuck on the escalator. And the white repairman comes to save them! But then he gets stuck too. The whole thing made me think though - why did the viral e-mail have the short version without the white man?
2) Nivea is facing cries of racism because of an advertisement. In the ad, a black man is throwing away a bearded, scraggly version of himself, and the tagline is about "Re-civilizing" yourself. A lot of people were offended and thought it was racist. But I didn't hear anyone crying racism for the white version of that ad. So. . . if you're African-American I'm not allowed to talk about certain things because they might offend you? A lot of these problem ads that pop up seem to be from European companies, which makes me think that maybe the problem is actually us.
3) A few years ago I read an article about racism at universities. There was mention of some black American students who studied in the UK. They were offended because when someone asked where they were from, the student would say "I'm American." And the Brit would say, "You are now. But where are you from?" The Brits assumed that people of color immigrated to America from Africa or the Caribbean. They didn't understand that for many black Americans, their families have been here for hundreds of years and were brought here as slaves from somewhere in Africa. These Brits weren't asking white American students where they were from. But is it really racism if they don't know American history?
The whole race situation in America reminds me of an episode of the TV show Bones. The title character goes to a club and says that the music has a tribal feel to it. Her friend tells her not to say that. But a black woman overhears them and is offended. Even though tribes are not a black thing. Yes, Africa has tribes. So do North and South America. So did Europe. There's still a white tribe in northern Scandinavia. And don't forget the Jewish tribes, or the Ainu in Japan.
I was actually nervous about writing this post about prejudice because the whole topic seems verboten in America. We simply aren't allowed to discuss it. And because of that, we can't seem to get past it. Which is why I finally decided to write about it. As a white person, I have to admit that there are times when I feel like I'm walking on eggshells, so that I don't accidentally offend someone who isn't like me. It's very stressful. Because if I offend someone, it's going to be because of something like the Bones episode. Like, if I'm going to Popeye's for lunch, and I ask my co-worker if he wants something from there, if he's black will he think I'm racist? I wouldn't mean it to be offensive, but some people would take it that way. And since I'm the white person, it's possible that I could get in trouble for it.
And the very fact that I say "I could get in trouble for it because I'm white" will cause some people to think I'm racist. I just happen to think that racism cuts in all directions. Another example: I used to live in a state in the Southwest, and I worked in an area that was mostly Hispanic. There were about 12 of us in this department, and my boss and I were the only white people. One of the women bought a new house in a "white" subdivision. And proceeded to regale all of us with tales of how weird and crazy white people are. She even told a few "white people are so stupid" type jokes. I consider that racist. But I never reported her to Human Resources. I brushed off the incidents as her being ignorant. But my boss was really offended and wanted to report her. She never did, because she was worried that it would make the situation at work worse.
The whole situation in America is ridiculous and we have to get past it.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The Prejudice Post - Part I
This has been bugging me for a while, so I thought I'd finally comment on it. When is racism actually racism? If a white person does something to a black person, is it automatically racist? If a straight person does something to a gay person, is that automatically homophobic?
My answer is No! I'm a woman, and I have actually been discriminated against for being female. I have friends, who are black, who have been discriminated against for being black. I even have a friend who was discriminated against for being white! Anyway, I'm not trying to say that racism or sexism or homophobia don't exist. Obviously, they do. But not EVERY single problem is prejudice-related.
I'm going to let you in on a little secret about me now - I'm fat. I tell you this to illustrate a point. You keep seeing "undercover" specials on TV where people put on fat suits and then get discriminated against. And yes, it does happen. But not all of it is because of being fat. A lot of the people putting on the fat suit are famous or beautiful. So they're going to get better than normal treatment from a lot of people. In disguise, they get normal to sub-normal treatment. As a fat person, I can tell you that I have, in fact, faced very little discrimination. Most of it seems to be sub-conscious discrimination from my students. In general, students seem to have more respect for male teachers than for female teachers. Really, ask around your department. If you're also fat, that's just one more strike against you, male or female.
The point I'm trying to make is that, yes, sometimes it is discrimination. But a lot of the time it isn't. Unfortunately, we're so racially aware in our culture that it causes problems. Let me give you two examples:
1) The recent kerfuffle over a sign at a football game. The sign said "You mad bro?" Now, if this had been two all-white teams playing, or two all-black teams playing, no one would care. But as the losing team was mostly black (and I'm guessing the winning team mostly white) there have been accusations of racism. The problem is that "You mad bro?" is a relatively common meme online. And it's not racist. Now, I could see some of the white team finding it "extra fun" because the other team is black. But it's not necessarily racist. The word "bro" isn't only used by people with dark skin.
A few years ago a woman running for office in California was accused of racism, because she used the expression "call a spade a spade." That's a gardening term that has existed for a long time. A spade is a type of shovel. But some people just seem on the lookout for offense. That's next.
2) My Little Pony has a new cartoon series out. I've watched some of it. But I was surprised to find a blog posting ranting about how prejudiced the series is. Here's the original blog post. And here's a rebuttal post from the show's producer (white female). You should read both of them. The original poster (also white female) seems to take a few screen shots of the series, and read an episode description, then decide that the entire series is racist, sexist, homophobic, and anti-smart people. WOW! What an amazingly thorough job! As the rebuttal points out (and my own viewing corroborates) the show is NOT prejudiced. But this is the problem with our society. The original poster wanted it to be prejudiced. Or she just wanted to stir up some shit, without caring about the truth. Both of those are big problems today. And it has to stop. Because there actually are racist people out there. So stop castigating the non-racists. Don't make up shit that distracts us from the real problems.
More tomorrow.
My answer is No! I'm a woman, and I have actually been discriminated against for being female. I have friends, who are black, who have been discriminated against for being black. I even have a friend who was discriminated against for being white! Anyway, I'm not trying to say that racism or sexism or homophobia don't exist. Obviously, they do. But not EVERY single problem is prejudice-related.
I'm going to let you in on a little secret about me now - I'm fat. I tell you this to illustrate a point. You keep seeing "undercover" specials on TV where people put on fat suits and then get discriminated against. And yes, it does happen. But not all of it is because of being fat. A lot of the people putting on the fat suit are famous or beautiful. So they're going to get better than normal treatment from a lot of people. In disguise, they get normal to sub-normal treatment. As a fat person, I can tell you that I have, in fact, faced very little discrimination. Most of it seems to be sub-conscious discrimination from my students. In general, students seem to have more respect for male teachers than for female teachers. Really, ask around your department. If you're also fat, that's just one more strike against you, male or female.
The point I'm trying to make is that, yes, sometimes it is discrimination. But a lot of the time it isn't. Unfortunately, we're so racially aware in our culture that it causes problems. Let me give you two examples:
1) The recent kerfuffle over a sign at a football game. The sign said "You mad bro?" Now, if this had been two all-white teams playing, or two all-black teams playing, no one would care. But as the losing team was mostly black (and I'm guessing the winning team mostly white) there have been accusations of racism. The problem is that "You mad bro?" is a relatively common meme online. And it's not racist. Now, I could see some of the white team finding it "extra fun" because the other team is black. But it's not necessarily racist. The word "bro" isn't only used by people with dark skin.
A few years ago a woman running for office in California was accused of racism, because she used the expression "call a spade a spade." That's a gardening term that has existed for a long time. A spade is a type of shovel. But some people just seem on the lookout for offense. That's next.
2) My Little Pony has a new cartoon series out. I've watched some of it. But I was surprised to find a blog posting ranting about how prejudiced the series is. Here's the original blog post. And here's a rebuttal post from the show's producer (white female). You should read both of them. The original poster (also white female) seems to take a few screen shots of the series, and read an episode description, then decide that the entire series is racist, sexist, homophobic, and anti-smart people. WOW! What an amazingly thorough job! As the rebuttal points out (and my own viewing corroborates) the show is NOT prejudiced. But this is the problem with our society. The original poster wanted it to be prejudiced. Or she just wanted to stir up some shit, without caring about the truth. Both of those are big problems today. And it has to stop. Because there actually are racist people out there. So stop castigating the non-racists. Don't make up shit that distracts us from the real problems.
More tomorrow.
Posting
Wow - it's been a while since I posted. There have been a number of things bugging me lately that I feel the need to rant about, so bear with me as I begin.
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